Preparing future teachers for the classrooms of tomorrow with eTwinning
Thursday, 2pm, a digital classroom: One by one, students enter Rich’s Zoom class for “Project-based Learning with eTwinning/Erasmus+ for Interculturality”, hosted by the University of Stuttgart in Germany. Rich enthusiastically welcomes each participant, chats about recent events, shared interests, and the latest developments in the course. The digital meeting room quickly fills up as participants join, and it becomes apparent: Not everyone here is a university student – teachers, eTwinning ambassadors, even teacher educators from other universities are joining this special course to engage in project-based learning through eTwinning. The participants come from Germany, Ukraine, Poland, Greece, Japan, Mexico, Palestine and other countries, bringing with them diverse experiences and perspectives shaped by very different social and geopolitical contexts. It's this very diversity that gives eTwinning its true meaning and value: by learning together across borders, participants experience the value of international collaboration firsthand.
What began in 2019 as a small course on using eTwinning in future teaching has become a widely recognised blueprint for integrating eTwinning into initial teacher education programmes. In this interview, Rich reflects on how his course has evolved into a European and global learning community and why genuine human connections remain at the heart of successful international collaboration.
- Rich, this is the 12th iteration of your course since you first ran it in 2020. What inspired you to design this course on project-based learning and eTwinning in Germany in the first place?
Great question, Matthias! As part of an innovative project to improve digital literacy competences and interculturality for future teachers, I was asked to design blended learning courses for master’s degree students dealing with these subjects. I knew about eTwinning already because in 2019, eTwinning was opened up for future teachers, and I was part of the first wave of teacher educators trained in Germany. I ran a project with five students in an American literature course, and this led me to want to teach an entire course for interculturality built around transnational eTwinning projects, so that more than just a handful of future teachers could learn about international virtual exchange through eTwinning. Therefore, the course grew from two passions: helping future teachers learn through authentic project-based experiences, and helping them build international connections in one course they take together before becoming teachers, so they have a network to start eTwinning projects when they become teachers.
- What has changed in your course over the years?
The biggest change has been the growing emphasis on intercultural dialogue, resilience, and learning in times of uncertainty. What began as a course about project-based learning through eTwinning has become a space where future teachers learn how education builds bridges across borders, changes traditional ways of teaching and testing and keep pupils in danger or at high risk going to school while keeping their teachers motivated, connected and not feeling alone. Over six years, the course has also increased its scope from eTwinning and Erasmus+ to include other important EU and European Commission resources.
- In your view, what advantages does eTwinning offer student teachers compared to traditional teaching practice?
Traditional teaching practice is usually local. Student teachers learn from one school, one mentor, one curriculum and one educational system. eTwinning expands that experience dramatically. Student teachers work with peers from other countries, encounter different educational traditions, and learn how culture influences teaching and learning. They develop digital collaboration skills, communication skills, project management skills, and intercultural competence - skills that are increasingly important in modern classrooms. Where else can you have a future teacher from Germany learn with and make friends with future teachers hundreds and thousands of kilometres away?
Most importantly, they learn that teaching is not something done in isolation. They become part of an international professional network before they graduate. The focus is to make friends now with simple projects that motivate them to do projects with their real classes when they become teachers, staying friends and supporting each other professionally as they move through their careers.
- What are some of the EU resources you cover in your course that your students are most interested in?
Students are often surprised by the number of opportunities available through European programmes. Many teachers don’t have time to learn about these resources, so learning about them as student teachers in the course each week sets a firm foundation for them to build on. In the course, we cover the full range of resources on the European School Education Platform, the European Education Area, the Erasmus+ Key Actions 1-3, Jean Monnet projects, blended intensive programmes (BIPs), the Better Internet for Kids resources, the SELFIE tools, the new AI Literacy Framework for Schools, the dedicated eTwinning group for future teachers, the Digital Education Hub, and many more.
Many students begin the course with little to no knowledge of these important resources and finish with bookmarked links, subscriptions to newsletters and passions for their identities as European and global educators. They know where to find valuable resources, information and how to apply for funding for international and national projects. Most importantly, they look beyond their own countries for information about teaching and learning.
- Many student teachers from Ukraine, Lebanon, and Palestine participate in your course. How did that first come about?
The participation of Ukrainian, Lebanese and Palestinian student teachers emerged through partnerships developed over several years. Colleagues and institutions trusted us to create a welcoming environment where future teachers could collaborate across borders. I met several teacher educators at online partner finding fairs organised by the Central Support Service (CSS) in Brussels, and that led to requests from attendees to register for the course. Then Dr. Svitlana Kalashnikova and Natalia Bazeliuk from Ukraine’s NSO heard about the course and sent emails to their teaching training universities. Over the past three semesters, we’ve had over 80 student teachers from Ukraine pass the course.
Lebanon was similar. Caroline Ghostine, NSO, and teacher educator Dr. Mary Gurunlian heard about the course at a Partner Finding Fair, and contacted me. We met on Zoom a few times, and to date 20 student teachers have completed projects with the course. To build on the success, I went to American University of Science and Technology (AUST) in Beirut in June 2025 to meet the eTwinning Team and students who participated in the course and projects.
Palestine was a more recent addition. Our German NSOs, Dr. Anne.Laaredj-Campbell and Laura Restrepo-Parradomet the Palestinian Ministry/NSOs at an eTwinning conference and told them about the course, who then promoted it, leading to 22 teachers, including eTwinning ambassadors, and student teachers from Palestine registering. The ambassadors knew so much about eTwinning already, that they contributed both as project members and as mentors to the student teachers as they built their Twinspaces and completed their projects
Our summer 2026 course had 14 eTwinning projects with over 100 student teachers participating. We showcased the projects during three separate Zoom sessions and recorded the presentations. We could tell they had fun and made friends and overcame lots of challenges. These sessions are truly a highlight of the course. Transnational teams present their project, and you can feel their pride and sense of fun and accomplishment.
- How do you ensure that the course remains an inclusive and supportive space for students coming from very different or challenging contexts?
Creating an inclusive space begins with establishing a culture of respect and empathy. We focus on educational goals rather than political debates. Teachers and student teachers are encouraged to share their experiences and perspectives, but nobody is required to discuss personal circumstances unless they want to. Because everyone is passionate about teaching and meeting new people engaged in educational innovations, the similarities far outweigh any differences in politics, religion, age or gender. We know we are all in this together, and that the times demand our focus on learning in transformative times. Right now, education can do what politics is having a difficult time doing: bringing people from different countries together and putting smiles on children’s and young adults’ faces as they learn together from motivated teachers with hope for the future.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) principles also guide the course, alongside Project-Based Learning (PBL). The course provides multiple ways for student teachers and teachers to participate, communicate, and contribute. This flexibility and design for learner variability and cultural variability is especially important when we face challenges such as unstable internet access, time differences, power blackouts, travel, family responsibilities, loss of life, test anxiety, and other difficult circumstances in our countries. Our goal is to create a learning community where every participant feels valued and heard and has space and options to excel. This modelling helps future teachers want to do the same in their classrooms.
- What impact on group dynamics have you observed when students from these diverse geopolitical backgrounds collaborate?
One of the most inspiring aspects of the course is how quickly stereotypes disappear once student teachers and teachers begin working together. People see the similarities instead of the differences as they work towards mutual goals with the course and their projects.
At first, student teachers see one another through national labels or common (mis)perceptions. After a few weeks, they come to see each other as teammates, future teachers, and friends. In the first few Zoom breakout room meetings, for example, our “quick topics” are pets, sports, food, music, family, and schools, so we get to know each other as humans before jumping into the academic topics and projects. Without these human connections for interculturality, the projects lack lustre, are too simple, and remain routine. More importantly, without these human connections, the participants don’t stay in contact after the course is over. A success indicator for this course is when participants are still in touch 2-3 years after the course and are doing projects together as teachers. In fact, that’s a main goal of the course: to stay connected after the course and run projects when they become teachers.
The collaboration encourages empathy and perspective-taking. Students learn that while educational systems may differ, many of their hopes, challenges, and aspirations are remarkably similar. They also discover that diversity strengthens creativity. Teams always produce richer and more innovative projects over individual efforts because they bring multiple perspectives to the design process.
- What kinds of challenges arise when students design their projects in transnational teams in general?
Teams must navigate different time zones, academic calendars, communication styles, busy schedules, digital tools to communicate, language abilities, and expectations regarding teamwork. They have to learn systems such as Moodle, Zoom, eTwinning, Twinspaces—all have accounts and login passwords to keep track of, along with digital tools they may use in projects such as Padlet, Mentimeter, Book Creator or Kahoot! They are learn to use and teach how to use artificial intelligence, as we know teachers need this now.
These challenges are not obstacles to learning—they become the learning. Future teachers need exactly these skills if they are to work effectively in increasingly diverse and connected educational environments. By addressing the challenges and talking about them rather than ignoring them or pretending we already have the solutions to them, student teachers and teachers feel less pressure to be “experts” but understand this is a learning process all are going through.
- How do you see the future of eTwinning in teacher education across Europe? What would you say to teacher education institutions that have not yet integrated eTwinning into their ITE programmes?
Put simply, eTwinning must become a standard, crucial, mandatory component of teacher education across Europe. Future teachers need more than subject knowledge and classroom management skills. They need intercultural competence, digital collaboration skills, project-based learning experience, and an understanding of European and global citizenship. eTwinning provides a free, accessible and practical way to develop all of these competencies. The European Commission resources in the European Education Area, the European Digital Education Hub and the European School Educational Platform are widespread and incredibly valuable: student teachers, teachers and teacher educators must know about them.
For teacher training institutions that have not yet integrated virtual exchanges such as eTwinning to complement their Erasmus+/mobility exchanges, my advice is likewise simple: start small!Begin with one project, one course, one lecturer, and one international partner. The technology can be learned. The real value lies in the relationships and learning experiences that emerge. You need passionate internationalists that want transnational virtual exchange to succeed.
When student teachers collaborate across borders before entering the teaching profession, they begin their careers not just as teachers of a subject, but as educators prepared to connect learners in a global world. The most important lesson our student teachers learn is that meaningful learning happens through human connection. Technology makes collaboration possible, but it is empathy, curiosity, and shared purpose that make it transformative. My eTwinning journey has been guided, above all, by human connections.
- Where can people learn more about the next course, Rich?
The next course runs from 15 October 2026 until 11 February 11 2027, on Thursdays, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Central European Time. Here is the registration form with my email address for people to contact me if they have questions.
The interview was conducted by Matthias Franz, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture.
Additional information
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Education type:School Education
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Target audience ISCED:Other
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